He has worked as a Middle East correspondent for the Financial Times and The Independent, and he frequently contributes to CounterPunch and London Review of Books. He has published four books on the recent history of Iraq: The Rise of Islamic State (2015), which examines how ISIS was able to create its own state in northern Iraq and eastern Syria; Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq (2008); The Occupation (2006), nominated for the National Book Critics Circle in the non-fiction category; and Saddam Hussein: An American Obsession (2006), written with his brother Andrew Cockburn; as well as an autobiographical book, The Broken Boy (2005). With his son he wrote a book about schizophrenia, Henry’s Demons (2011), which was selected for the Costa Book Award. Throughout his career he has obtained numerous recognitions, among others the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (2005); the James Cameron Award (2006); the Orwell Prize for Journalism (2009); and has been elected Foreign Commentator of the Year (2013) and Foreign Reporter of the Year (2014).